Rio de Janeiro city launches production incentive with 35% reimburse

For the first time, Brazil’s city of Rio de Janeiro is launching a cash-back incentive of up to 35%, which is run by the government agency RioFilme. The program seeks to benefit international productions that spend at least US$3 million in the city.

International productions and from other states filming in Rio can benefit from a 30% cash refund. This amounts to 35% if Rio is the main stage of the production, as reported by Variety.

This new incentive is very attractive for the audiovisual industry in the region. Colombia leads the cash reimbursement with 40% in local expenses and 20% in logistics expenses. Sao Paulo follows, offering a cash-back of 20% to 30%; and Uruguay with 20 to 25% for eligible expenses.

The incentive covers film, television, advertising, and animation; music videos and video game sessions are excluded. Fiction or animation feature films are included, while TV series must have at least three episodes shot in Rio, which can be fiction, animation, or reality shows. For advertising campaigns, at least one of the locations must be identified as in the city of Rio, and must not have a negative impact on the image of the city.

To apply for the incentive, it is required to hire a local production service company domiciled in the city for the last two years. There must be at least two places that can be identified in Rio de Janeiro and it must be released in at least six non-Portuguese speaking countries with a minimum 100 million inhabitants.